


Palm To Palm

by thesoundofnat



Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Holding Hands, M/M, Touching
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-17
Updated: 2016-05-17
Packaged: 2018-06-09 02:16:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,807
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6885151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesoundofnat/pseuds/thesoundofnat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“I have a question,” he heard himself saying. Ronan merely arched a brow. “Why are you so fascinated with my hands?”</p>
<p>Ronan didn’t reply, and his silence spoke volumes. It was funny. Adam never thought the lack of words could say so much.</p>
<p>(Or, Adam realizes that Ronan is obsessed with his hands.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Palm To Palm

**Author's Note:**

> My second Pynch fic ever, but certainly not the last. Hope you like it!
> 
> Also posted on my tumblr thesoundofnat.tumblr.com

Ronan was obsessed with his hands. The realization hit Adam like a bolt of lightning; suddenly and with almost no warning. To be quite fair, all the signs had been there. He’d just been too blind to see them.

He didn’t blame himself for his temporary loss of sight, though. Everything was just so new yet so much the same as it always had been. Being with Ronan was like falling into the unknown over and over; you got used to not really knowing what was going to happen. Got used to the feeling of Ronan’s lips on his own, their legs tangled together, their fingers intertwining. At this point it was both an adventure and a familiarity.

Ronan Lynch was anything but boring to be with. Adam learned this in the best way.

All these things added up to create their first couple of months together. Hence Adam wasn’t that surprised to find out that there were things he hadn’t always noticed. Ronan was a big enough of a puzzle as it was, and Adam decoded him little by little everyday. Discovering new things wasn’t uncommon, which is why he couldn’t understand why he’d been so surprised by this latest revelation.

“Hey, earth to Parrish.”

Adam left his never-ending thoughts and glanced up at Ronan himself. “What?”

“You spaced out.”

“I did?”

Ronan nodded. “Was it Cabeswater?”

Cabeswater?

_Oh._

Well, Ronan was the one who didn’t lie.

“Yes, it was,” Adam said, averting his eyes briefly enough to look at his palms. What was it about them that Ronan loved so much?

Ronan more than just loved them. He was addicted to touching them, holding them, trailing his fingertips over them and making Adam shiver again and again. Adam wasn’t even sure if he was aware of it himself, but now that Adam noticed he couldn’t stop.

Ronan, as if reading his thoughts, reached out to bump their knuckles together, but in a much more intimate way than a friendly fist bump. It was probably a subconscious excuse to touch him, and Adam felt touched all right.

“Is everything okay? With Cabeswater?”

Adam looked at him; gaze meeting fiery gaze. “Everything is perfect.”

Ronan smiled in a way that was reserved for only Matthew and Adam. The smile Adam fell in love with each time.

“Let’s get some food. I’m fucking starving.” Ronan’s hand took a hold of his, and Adam clutched it back. He was aware of Ronan’s thumb stroking over his hand the whole time. It made him feel giddy, for some reason.

“Should we invite the others?”

“Sometimes I think you don’t want to be alone with me.” But there was no menace behind Ronan’s words, and they _did_ end up calling the others. Twenty minutes later and they were all squeezed together in a booth at Nino’s; chatting, eating, laughing, eating, Ronan’s hand playing idly with Adam’s fingers, eating.

Adam couldn’t take his mind off the fingertips on his hypersensitive skin the whole time.

* * *

 

It was cold in Adam’s apartment, a fact he was bitterly aware of as his bare feet padded over the floor. Ronan was eyeing him from the bed, his gaze lazy and comfortable in staring the way it did. That hadn’t always been the case.

Their eyes locked briefly, and Adam could feel the start of a smile creep over his lips. Ronan looked good in this light. Way too good.

“If you’re going to look at me like that I might end up kicking you out,” he warned, to which Ronan furrowed his brows.

“The fuck you mean?”

“Your face,” Adam clarified, pointing an accusing finger at him. “It’s distracting and I need to study.”

Ronan gave an exasperated sigh. “You always study.”

“Well, one of us has to.”

He could tell Ronan was biting back a comment that would most likely be way too harsh for the current situation. Ronan hadn’t exactly changed ever since they got together, but he was making an effort to not start unnecessary arguments. Adam appreciated it. He could only hope he was making the same attempts.

Grabbing his history book, Adam jumped onto the bed in a slightly too eager manner, making the whole thing wobble. Ronan almost looked comical where he was sitting; his face still frowning as his body shook from the swaying. Adam had to smile.

“What’s so funny?”

“Nothing.”

“Uh huh.”

Adam grinned at him, hugely and toothily, just to see what sort of reaction it would get. He could detect the twitch in the corners of Ronan’s lips, and he knew when Ronan looked away that he was fighting back a smile. For a hot second Adam contemplated abandoning his books to focus all his attention at getting Ronan to break, but he figured he could make him smile later. They had all the time in the world, he would like to think.

He settled down, his back against the headboard and his book on his thighs. His feet were stiff from the cold, and he rubbed them together hopelessly. Ronan noticed.

“Get up.”

“Pardon?”

“Get up so that we can get under the covers.”

Adam obeyed, glad that Ronan was the one who suggested it. He instantly felt better with the protective shield embracing his lower body.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were freezing?” Ronan demanded, his frown more apparent than ever.

“I didn’t want to disturb you by asking you to stand up,” Adam meekly admitted.

“No offense, Parrish, but you’re stupid.”

Adam barked out a laugh at that. “Okay, fair.”

They fell into a silence that contained of Adam reading about people who were now dead, taking notes about people who were now dead, and then reading some more about people who were now dead. He opened his mouth to complain about this one particular person who was now dead, but Ronan’s hand finding his own made him almost choke on his words.

Ronan was sitting on the side of his writing hand because that was also the side of his good ear. That meant that he had to keep letting go whenever Adam needed to write something, but as soon as Adam dropped the pen - which he only did for his benefit - his hand returned, just holding onto Adam’s. Adam didn’t quite mind the routine, though it did get tiring after a while since he was aware of the fact that him moving his hand meant that Ronan had to move his too.

The constant contact made it worth it, though. The realization that Ronan loved his hands brought with it another realization. Adam loved to be touched. Oh, what a match they were.

“Are you done soon?” Ronan asked, his voice oddly loud in the still room. To his credit he’d been quiet for almost half an hour. Adam had expected it to last for ten minutes max.

“I’m not even halfway through,” Adam replied, the monotone to his voice revealing that, while he wasn’t done, internally he was so done. “I should continue, but-”

“But?”

Adam sighed and leaned his head on Ronan’s shoulder. “I’m tired.”

“So sleep.”

“I can’t.”

“Why?”

“I’m not done.”

Ronan scoffed, his fingers slipping away from Adam’s and leaving them lonesome and cold. “Yes, you are.” He grabbed Adam’s book unceremoniously, thankfully making sure to mark the page he was on, and then set it aside rather gently.

Still Adam narrowed his eyes at him. “That’s not a way to get what you want, you know.”

“And what do I want?”

“My attention, obviously.”

Ronan didn’t deny it, but the way he shook his head made it clear that he would’ve loved to. But Ronan didn’t lie.

“Watching you study got boring,” he said instead.

“Then why didn’t you crack open a book yourself?” Adam only asked out of habit. He knew his question would go unanswered.

Ronan groaned, his hand finding Adam’s again. “Don’t ask stupid questions.”

Adam snorted. “What on earth would we ever talk about if I didn’t?”

There it was. That smile. He’d broken him at last.

“Good point.”

Adam gave his hand a squeeze, and suddenly his attention was partly on Ronan’s mouth, partly on his fingers. The things those two parts of him did to Adam.

“I have a question,” he heard himself saying. Ronan merely arched a brow. “Why are you so fascinated with my hands?”

Ronan didn’t reply, and his silence spoke volumes. It was funny. Adam never thought the lack of words could say so much.

“There’s nothing wrong with it,” Adam was quick to say. “Just something I’ve noticed.”

Ronan shrugged. The kind of shrug that was supposed to be nonchalant but came off as the complete opposite. He still didn’t say anything.

And just like that Adam felt playful. “Is it because they’re oh so beautiful?”

Ronan glared at him, but Adam could see his mouth twitching.

“Is it because they’re oh so soft?” He was kidding, of course. Adam’s hands were anything but soft, though Ronan’s dreamed up lotion did help matters a bit.

“Is it because they can do this?” He reached out to flutter his fingers over Ronan’s ear, making him jerk away with a surprised laugh. “That’s the reason, isn’t it?”

“Okay, enough of that.” Ronan grabbed his hand in a firm grip. Adam simply used his other hand to wiggle his fingers over Ronan’s neck instead, which lost him the freedom of that hand as well.

He grinned at Ronan, cheekily and tauntingly. “Is this why you love them?”

“Fucking hell, you’re so annoying.” But Ronan’s voice lacked that tone that told him Adam had crossed a line.

Adam let out a laugh. “You love it.” He tilted his head to the side. “Almost as much as you love my hands.”

Ronan shook his head. “Stop that.”

“Stop what?”

“Stop being so observant.” He started rubbing a thumb over Adam’s hand. “It’s ruining my image.”

“I like your new image.”

Ronan smirked. “You do, huh?”

“Obviously.” He imitated Ronan’s movements on his still hand. “Otherwise I wouldn’t keep ruining your old one.”

Fingers intertwined, chest touching chest, lips against lips. Their souls morphed together and they became one. Adam could vividly remember a time where he wouldn’t even have dreamt of doing this with Ronan. That time was over. Now he couldn’t even dare to think of a day without this. Without witnessing the lines on Ronan’s forehead smoothing out as he dropped his constant frown. Without feeling his pulse on Ronan’s wrist, his breath in his ear. He couldn’t imagine not feeling Ronan’s body against his own. He just couldn’t.

Later, just before Adam fell asleep, he could feel Ronan’s hand finding his own, their fingers merely touching. It was a good way to leave consciousness behind. It was an even better way to regain it.


End file.
